


Exhaustion

by SilenceIsGolden15



Series: Voltron Oneshots [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dehydration, Fainting, Gen, Overworking, Post-Season/Series 03, post lion swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 05:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceIsGolden15/pseuds/SilenceIsGolden15
Summary: After Shiro disappears from his lion, Keith runs himself ragged trying to find him and deal with the emotional fallout. Unfortunately, he's never been good at dealing with his emotions.





	Exhaustion

It was late. Awfully late. Ridiculously late. So late it could be considered early. The sky would just barely be turning mauve back on Earth as the sun threatened to rise. 

Keith hadn’t slept in two days.

After the battle, after they couldn’t find Shiro anywhere in the Castle, he’d searched for three days straight- only surviving on the emergency rations kept in his lion. But eventually he’d gotten so tired, and then Red had shut down and flown him home, refusing to let him wear himself any thinner. He’d slept for almost an entire day after that. Then he’d gone right back out again.

He had a well established pattern now. Return to the debris field and search until his lungs refused to work anymore and his heart was shattering in his chest. Go back to the Castle and train until his limbs burned and he was too numb from the ringing of steel to feel himself cracking. Repeat. Sleep or eat when the others insisted. 

He had no idea how long it had been. Everything was a blur.

He was in the second part of his pattern; the training deck. His muscles were numb and aching, his skin thrumming so loudly he couldn’t feel the cuts and bruises that littered it anymore. His hair was utterly soaked with sweat, probably mixing with blood in some places and running to sting into his eyes. His throat burned, his stomach felt like a yawning chasm, his whole body was trembling so hard he could barely hold his bayard. But he didn’t stop. He couldn’t, or he would break.

Keith ducked, managing to just barely dodge a blow from the Gladiator. But his muscles weren’t having any of it; his heel slipped and he fell. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, but his eyesight was blurred. He blinked rapidly, trying to get the haze to clear, but it wouldn’t. It went completely black for a moment- returned, only to spin and swirl. Vaguely, he wondered when he’d last had anything to drink. Or eat. And then-

His knees hit the floor first. His hands came up to catch himself, only for his elbows to immediately buckle under his own weight. Through the ringing in his ears he heard the gladiator power down, but he couldn’t get up.

Now that he was horizontal, every single part of him melted to the floor, feeling as though he would never get up again. His vision had gone black again; he didn’t know if he’d closed his eyes. The metal floor was so cool against his burning skin. So, blessedly cool.

_ Something’s wrong. _ He thought to himself, but he still couldn’t find the energy to care. A part of his brain had recognized the facts: he’d gone too far, overworked, collapsed. But for the majority of him this felt better. This numbness, the exhaustion pulling him under like a wave. No time to think, or feel, or hurt- just tired. So easy to let go, to forget, just for a minute…

“Keith? You in here?” 

The voice was far away. Still, he recognized it. Pidge. He couldn’t find the motivation to speak, and that didn’t bother him. Maybe without an answer she would move on, leave him to finally feel alright for once. 

The sweat was drying on him, making him shiver against the floor. He still didn’t move.

“Keith?” Pidge’s voice was closer now, and there was a hiss as the door opened. A sharp intake of breath bounced off the walls. 

“ _ Keith! _ ” 

Hot hands pressed to his skin, rolling him from his stomach to his back. His fingers finally released his bayard and he opened his eyes, only to flinch away from the bright Castle lights. He felt empty, hollowed out, cold and crumbling inside. 

“Keith?”

He tried to shove her hands away, but he was shaky, and it only served to panic Pidge even more. 

“M’fine, Pidge.” his voice came out mumbled. “M’fine.”

She didn’t believe him.

“Jesus, ok, just stay here I’m- I’m gonna go get Hunk just- just-  _ don’t move _ .” 

The sound of her footsteps echoed. Keith closed his eyes. 

It didn’t feel so good anymore. 

The next time hands touched him- Hunk’s large ones this time- he welcomed it. God he missed Shiro. He hadn’t realized until now how often Shiro had touched him. A hand on a shoulder, a brief hug; he hadn’t realized how much he relied on them to keep him grounded. To keep him put together. He’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t forget how this felt, so he’d always remember to appreciate Shiro, to never take him for granted. But he had. 

It was the Kerberos mission all over again, but it was worse. 

_ I let it happen again. _

He was dragged back to reality by Hunk sitting him down on the lounge sofa, upright. Something cold is pressed into his hand, and he drinks the water as quickly as he can, like he’d been trapped in a desert for weeks. His empty stomach tries to force it back up, but he refuses to let it.

“Should we get Allura?” he hears Hunk murmur, and the hair on the back of his neck stands straight up. “Or Coran?”

“No.” Keith mumbles, tossing the empty packet of water to the side. “No, don’t tell anyone, don’t-”

He presses a hand to his mouth as the need to vomit reemerges. He couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand himself right now. How pathetic he was being. Breaking down in front of the team. Being so weak when Shiro was still out there somewhere. Fucking  _ collapsing  _ on the fucking  _ training deck _ . God, he could just imagine how mercilessly Lance would mock him. 

“Ok, ok, we won’t.” Pidge rushed to assure him. 

“Pidge, I’m gonna go grab some food for him, you stay here.”

Keith leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, trying to breathe. Pidge clambered up onto the couch beside him. For a long moment there was silence, only the sound of Hunk’s footsteps echoing back at them. 

“I get it.” Pidge said softly, and Keith immediately just wanted to die. “I do. This is how I was for like a month after Kerberos. Passed out on my keyboard more than once. Dropped ten pounds. Scared my mom to death.”

Keith hunched his shoulders. He knew what was coming. 

“But you’re not going to be able to find Shiro if you’re falling over from exhaustion. And Shiro wouldn’t want you to be tearing yourself apart like this.”

He drew in a deep breath. 

“I know. I know he wouldn’t. I know he’ll be upset when we get him back and he finds out. But…”

“You feel like you’ll break if you slow down.” Pidge finished for him. 

“I’ve done this before.” Keith said with a frustrated shake of the head. “This isn’t the first time Shiro’s disappeared.”

“But you’re not alone this time.” He refused to look at her, but the sincerity of her voice came through loud and clear regardless. “You have the rest of us. You don’t have to do this all by yourself.”

Keith’s throat closed up, and he couldn’t clear it enough to speak again. It was quiet until Hunk returned, bearing a small bowl of food goo.

“Sorry, I can’t give you too much.” he said with a sheepish smile. “You’ll be sick if you eat too much too quickly.”

Keith gave a half hearted shrug and reluctantly accepted the bowl. Even now, with his body feeling like it was about to digest itself, he still didn’t feel like eating. But he did anyway, forcing spoonful after spoonful just to make Hunk happy. 

“Good, ok.” Hunk said when Keith had finished. “Now you need to go to bed.”

Keith didn’t bother arguing this time. 


End file.
